Siena - National Gallery

(Local Name: Pinacoteca Nazionale) The Pinacoteca Nazionale (National Gallery) occupies one of the most elegant palazzi in Siena, the battlemented Late Gothic Palazzo Buonsignori (early 15th century), to the southeast of the cathedral. The gallery, the original basis of which was an 18th century private collection, offers an excellent general impression of Sienese painting from the 12th to the 16th century, with pictures by almost all the painters working in Siena. Notable among them are works by Guido da Siena (13th century; "Raising of Lazarus", "Entry into Jerusalem", "Transfiguration", "St Peter Enthroned"); Duccio di Buoninsegna (c. 1255-1319; "Virgin and Child", "Madonna dei Francescani"); Ambrogio Lorenzetti (14th century; "Virgin and Child", "Entombment", "Madonna Enthroned", "Annunciation"); Pietro Lorenzetti (14th century; "John the Baptist", "Four Apostles", "Allegory of Sin and Salvation"); Giovanni di Paolo (1403-82; "Flight into Egypt", "Crucifixion"); Pinturicchio (c. 1454-1513; "Holy Family"); and Sodoma (Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, 1477-1549; "Flagellation", "Judith and Holofernes", "Descent into Limbo"). Also of interest are the cartoons by Beccafumi (on a scale of 1:1) for the marble inlays in the pavement of the cathedral.